Tou-san
by Cisystematic
Summary: AUFIC: After doing a magic show for his wife's coworkers, Kaito meets a ghost.
1. This wind is blowing in my mind

Chapter 1: This wind is blowing in my mind

"Are you sure this is okay?" I ask, buttoning up my shirt. "I don't know these people…" Aoko's laugh makes me feel even more awkward. She looks at my reflection in the mirror, smiling.

"Do you ever know the people you perform for?" She asks, leaning on the door frame. "It's the same as always. Don't think about it too hard."

I begin putting on my tie. "But these are policemen-policemen that you barely know yourself. They're totally gonna judge me _and _you based off this."

Today I have a job. A kid's birthday party. No big deal, I've done kid parties before. A simple card trick, multicolored hankies coming out of my sleeve, and maybe a few doves to keep the parents interested, but this one feels different. Aoko, who just joined the "cooler part" of the police department, wanted to impress her upper classmen with her "fantastic magic husband" at someone's kid's birthday party. The thing is I haven't done magic in a while. It's not that I don't want to, it's just…

I glance at the picture of my dad on the dresser. Magic hurts sometimes.

"Do policemen even like magic?" I ask.

"Course they do." I jump at the voice.

Aoko is also surprised. "You're just waking up, Dad? You need to stop watching those cop shows so late."

I turn around to properly greet my father-in-law. He's visiting to celebrate Aoko getting promoted to Lieutenant. Granted that happened three days ago. "Hello, Nakamori-keibu." I smile.

He nods in my direction, yawning. "You can call me Dad, you know. I've known you since you were born." He pauses. Aoko bites her lip. I guess the look on my face isn't a nice one. Nakamori-keibu has been kinda adamant about me calling him Dad, especially since I've been around him and Aoko for so long. But he knows why I can't. I only have one dad. "Plus, I'm retired. It feels weird hearing that title…"

I grin. "I'm trying to make you remember the good ol' days!"

Nakamori-keibu chuckles and walks to the bathroom. Not to be rude, but I can't wait till he leaves. We have a small apartment and only one bathroom. Unlike Aoko, I'm really particular about where everything needs to be. I'm not as bad as Hakuba, but I do like using my cabinets which is where the toothpaste is supposed to be. Nakamori-keibu keeps the toothpaste on the counter. He's nice to have around though.

Aoko walks toward me, still biting her lip. "I know it's hard calling him Dad, but can you try calling him something more...nice?" She fixes my tie. "He feels like you're distancing yourself from him with the policeman title."

"I know. It's just…" I try to find the right words. "I dunno." I wouldn't mind calling him something different but there's a part of me that calls him keibu because that's what everyone called him when I was growing up.

"Well, how about calling him Ginzo-san, or even Nakamori-chan," she says, letting go of my tie.

I snicker. "I think he'll kill me if I call him 'chan'."

"Either way, think on it. Also you need to hurry up. Hakuba-kun's coming and you know how he is with time."

I groan loudly. "Hakuba's coming too? He's gonna make me even more nervous."

"How? We've known him for years!"

"This isn't regular Hakuba. This is _Hakuba-keiji_ Hakuba."

Aoko laughs. "Think of this like high school and you're still playing tricks on him."

I sigh. "Okay." I get my jacket from the bed and lazily put it on. "I hate policemen…" I say loudly. Aoko pinches my arm. I hear a grunt from the bathroom. "Except the ones in this apartment."

My wife kisses my cheek.

"Damn straight." I hear from the bathroom.

Satisfied, Aoko leaves to make her dad some coffee. I go to my closet to get my top hat. In the corner of my eye I see another white suit. Pushing the other clothes out of the way, I stare at my father's magician outfit. When I decided to start following his footsteps and perform magic, I couldn't bring myself to wear his. I'm probably the same size as him now, but it still wouldn't feel right. I quickly close the door. Depression and nervousness doesn't make a good magic show or a good anything for that matter. After I put my hat on, I take another look in the mirror. It's a gaudy suit, but it does the job. Instead of being the regular bumbling idiot Kuroba Kaito, I'm the mysterious Kaitou Kid. I grin, looking back at my dad's picture. He's not in costume, but he looks brilliant anyway.

"I said I would grow one like you, but that hasn't happened yet." I say, putting my fingers on my lip to make a fake mustache. "I guess I would look good with it. You said I would, Dad." I smile at the picture. I walk over to it, kiss my fingers, and place them on his chest. "You'll be watching this show, right? You always do." I sigh.

Aoko gasps loudly. "Kaito! We gotta go now if you wanna get the parrot from Jii!"

Ugh...this is going to end terribly. I just know it.

...

"Hakuba's gonna say we're late," I mutter trying not to rattle my dove cages too much as we jog down the sidewalk.

"No, he's not." Aoko's holding, and trying her hardest not to drop, the parrot cage we got from Jii. Jii is Jii-chan's grandson and my assistant. Jii-chan was my dad's assistant back in the day. Even though he was already too old to help me with my little magic shows, he helped me until he was bedridden. Jii is just as good though, he keeps all of my doves and gets any other random animals I feel like having like Par-rot the parrot here.

"There's the house up there," I hear her say. It's a nice house. Looks like a stable family sorta place. I've only lived in apartments so seeing a family home is kinda exciting. I know apartments can be family homes but there's something reassuring about the nice picket fenced backyard and chimney of a neighborhood home. You feel like things are going to stay the same for a while. "Hakuba-kun said he'll be waiting in the backyard."

"Is he going to be in uniform like you?" I ask.

"He should. He told me that everyone would be dressed nice," she answers. For some reason, Aoko insists that her uniform is needed. Even her dad said that it was weird to wear it to a kid's party.

I snort. "Nice doesn't mean your uniform."

"Says the man who fantasizes about it." Touche. Another reason, Nakamori-keibu needs to leave. I haven't had any alone time with Aoko and I can tell it's getting to me. I could always tell him to leave, but I feel very uncomfortable telling my father-in-law that I want to have intercourse with his daughter because police uniforms are more stimulating than I thought they would be.

We finally reach the backyard and Hakuba is looking at his watch as always. Aoko and I've known since high school, and while he might not be as stuck up as he was then, his love for punctuality is still there. I'm surprised he actually started dating a human being instead of his watch. Of course Akako is similarly creepy as Hakuba's time fetish.

"Twenty five seconds late," he greets us.

"I told you," I tell Aoko.

"Hakuba-kun could you hold the parrot?" She asks sweetly, handing him the cage. With both hands now free, she reaches up and pinches his both of his ears. "He's already nervous and this is what you say? What happened to 'hello'?"

Hakuba winces. "I'm sorry, but that's the only way I can calm my own nerves. I'm probably more nervous than he is."

I check the back yard. No balloons or anything. I don't even hear any music coming from inside. Where are the kids? I feel even more uneasy.

"Why are _you_ nervous Hakuba? I'm the one performing." I turn to him. "Is the party inside? Or does it start later?" Nothing about this house has any vibes of a birthday party or children. I feel like I'm in a funeral.

Hakuba looks shocked and faces Aoko. "You didn't tell him!"

"What? Didn't tell me what?" I ask. Instead of answering, Aoko waves to someone behind me.

"Hello Hattori-keiji!" She walks past us. I look to see a dark skinned man standing on the porch. Ah, so this is Hattori. Amongst the few people she works under, Hattori is Aoko's favorite. She works with him on most cases. She's right, his eyebrows are thick...

"Yo, Aoko!" He grins. More casual than I thought he would be. "You love that uniform too much."

She laughs. "I know! I might marry it!" I would find that hilarious if I wasn't so on edge at the moment.

Hattori waves at me. "You're the magic husband?"

I hope everyone doesn't know me by that title. "Kuroba Kaito, yes." I say, putting down my dove cages.

"Nice to meet you, Kaito!" He laughs. Wow, we're already on a first name basis. "Should I tell everyone else that you're here?"

"Uh-"

"The magic man's here!" He yells inside the house.

Good. Also, I'm the magic man.

I hear Hakuba sigh beside me. "Impetuous as always…" He sets down the parrot cage and gives me a pat on the back. "Do you need help?"

"No, I should be fine. There's nothing really to set up. Just putting some birds in my sleeves." I say.

"I meant your anxiety. It _has_ been a while, Kaito. I actually hate that Aoko volunteered you to do this," He says.

"Well, a job's a job. Plus, I haven't actually gone out job searching so I'm grateful for this." I bend down to open the dove cages. I can practically hear Hakuba's shocked expression. "Don't scold me today, Sagu. It's a kid's party." I quickly put my doves in their hiding places and open Par-rot's cage. The parrot sits on my shoulder; she's gonna be my opening act.

He sighs. "It's only one kid, Kaito."

I turn to him, slightly confused. "What?"

"There's only one kid," He repeats.

"Look Conan-kun, it's the magician that Nakamori-kun invited for you," a woman says. She leads a small group of people, most are Aoko's police buddies I guess, toward me and Hakuba. Beside her is a small child. He looks to be around seven.

There's no other kids. It's just him. What kind of party is this? Why does he look so sad? Also, why is everyone here an adult? Nothing here is making sense. The boy, Conan, quietly sits down in front of me, waiting. There's nothing scarier than seeing a child not behave like one. His mom looks extremely pensive-is everything riding on me making this kid happy?

I'll have to push this aside for now. It's show time. I grin at my small audience and graciously bow.

"My name is Kaitou Kid. Welcome to my magic show!" With that, I begin my meager act.

Being Kid is much easier than being Kaito, which is weird because I'm both. That's probably the worst thing about having a persona. The character you make up turns out to be better than you. Kid has everything under control. I barely seem to keep things together. But I should keep a level head while I'm entertaining; I need to be impressive in case the other policemen want to hire me for their random entertaining events.

It's hard to be impressive with the kid just staring blankly at me. He doesn't help with alleviating the extremely weird vibes that I'm getting. Usually the kids are clapping and going bonkers when I do some tricks, but Conan is different. I feel like he wants to smile, but chooses not to. Almost like something forced him not to be happy.

When I'm done, all of the adults clap. Aoko's cheers the loudest.

Conan's mother bends down to her son. "What did you think, Conan-kun?" She asks.

I expected Aoko and Hakuba to tune in on his answer, but not everyone else. Even Hattori, who seems like he doesn't really care about much, was making sure he heard what this kid has to say.

Conan himself knows this apparently and glances at everyone before answering, "it's fine."

I inwardly sigh, everyone else looks like they're doing the same thing. Aoko finally looks anxious. She shares a look with Hakuba. They better tell me what's going on. I'm so confused. Conan walks back inside with some of the adults. His mom walks over to me. Saying that she looks tired is an understatement.

"I'm so sorry about Conan-kun. He gets a bit shy sometimes," she says. Her smile is sort of distracted, if that makes sense. She seems like the type to naturally smile all the time, but there's something heavier on her mind. "Thank you so much for coming by. You can stay for a while, if you wish to. There's plenty of food to go around." She gasps. "I'm sorry! I didn't introduce myself. I'm Kudo Ran."

I take off my hat and monocle. "Kuroba Kaito, nice to meet you. I don't mind staying for a bit." I have nothing else to do today. I tell Kudo-san that I'll be back after I get my birds situated and change clothes. She leaves me with Aoko and Hakuba. "You should tell me what's happening now," I tell them as I put my birds back. I send a text message to Jii to swing by and pick them up.

Aoko plays with her hair. "It _is_ Conan-kun's birthday," she mumbles. As if that was my biggest worry…

"Do you remember the name Kudo Shinichi?" Hakuba asks as he follows me and Aoko to the car. I put the birds on the roof and climb in the back seat to change clothes. Aoko and I have a knack for sporadic day trips so there's always extra clothes in our car.

"I remember you talking about him when you joined the force," I say, removing my cape. "He's your Holmes friend." I remember that day clearly. Hakuba came by super excited about meeting someone who liked Holmes as much as he did. The two of them worked on a couple of cases I believe.

Hakuba nods. "He _was_ a fellow detective. Remember when I told you about that terrible car accident three months ago?"

"Yeah," I say. I barely watch the news since Hakuba tells me everything that's going on. I remember him telling me a drunk driver caused a huge accident with four cars, one hitting a small store. There were several casualties. I have a terrible feeling about this.

"Kudo Shinichi, Conan's father, was killed in that accident." Hakuba looks at the ground. His eyebrows twitch slightly.

I finish changing, but I don't get out of the car. No wonder his reaction was so strange. He wasn't saying 'it's fine' toward my performance, but to everyone else worrying about him. Probably saying it to himself more than anything. That's what I did when I was his age. Heh, I still do. I get out of the car, sighing.

"I think it was good of you to come though. Everyone here knows Shinichi in some way and I think you made them feel a bit better." Hakuba smiles. "I know I feel a bit relieved. I forgot how good you are when your tricks aren't against me."

I silently take the compliment. I would say that my appearance was only good for a distraction, but I don't want to make Hakuba feel even worse. I can tell he's barely holding up. He keeps checking the time; sure it's a regular habit of his, but it's getting too excessive. He goes back to the house, his step a bit slower than usual.

Aoko hugs me. "I'm so sorry Kaito. I know you thought I was using you as a way to show off to the higher ups or whatever," she sniffs loudly, "but I really wanted you to come by because I thought you could help."

I squeeze her, chuckling. "Aoko don't cry. You just got promoted. The uniform's gonna mess up." I lean down to kiss her. "I know you had good intentions, but I wish you could've told me before all this."

"I was afraid you weren't going to do it," she says. "You know how you are sometimes…" she mumbles against my chest.

I raise an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?" It would be a lie to say I'm not a bit ticked off by that. She understands why I don't like doing magic that much anymore.

Aoko notices my reaction. "Don't get mad." She lets go of me and crosses her arms. "I know magic reminds you of your dad, but you shut down sometimes. You turn into a different person. You push others away."

There are times where I don't particularly like my current situation. Being a magician is fun, but again sometimes doing magic hurts sometimes. I don't mean to push Aoko away when I get in a mood, but she doesn't really understand. Her parents may be divorced, but they're both still alive.

Aoko continues, "When I heard about Conan and Shinichi-keiji, I thought you could not only make Conan feel better but also get something good from performing for him. There are some days that I hate that I decided to join the police, but I remember that I can make happier memories to cover the bad ones. I'm just afraid you're going to shut down and never bounce back." She looks away, biting her lip.

I get what she's saying, and it makes sense. Some days I get in too deep with thoughts about my dad; I can barely get out of bed sometimes. "I'll be fine Aoko, because I have you around." I hug her again. "That's why we're married. You need me too, you know."

She nods. Just like I think about my dad, she thinks about her mom often. It's a different situation, but just as hard to deal with. "I know." We're quiet for a moment, still holding each other. I hear Jii's car pulling up behind us. I know because of the weird clank the engine makes when it changes gears. I look at Kudo-san's house. It's a shame such a nice place holds such a terrible situation. I see a man standing by the fence, staring at the house. Was he always there? Maybe I didn't see him walk up. He turns around and notices me staring. He has an odd cowlick... He smiles and waves. I can barely make out his face, but I wave anyway. His expression suddenly changes. He checks behind him before eagerly waves at me again. I hesitantly wave again. What a weird guy. Maybe people don't notice him or something...

"We should go back," Aoko says, distracting me for a moment.

We start heading back to Kudo-san's house. I look back to see Jii getting the bird cages from the roof of my car. Good assistant, that one. Aoko becomes her perky self again, skipping beside me.

"I can't wait to introduce you to my other police buddies," she says. "You're going to love them." Haha she's sucha cutie. That's probably the best wife to have, I guess. I don't really call her my wife a lot. Granted, I don't get out the house often. This is probably her way to have some more people for me to talk to. As we get closer to the house, I realize the man is gone. Where did he go?

In the backyard, Hakuba's with Hattori and another woman. She has the kinda build that would make you second guess her gender, but her face is pretty feminine. Hattori listens closely to her. She must be his senior.

"Hey, the magic man's back!" Hattori announces my presence. Please don't let that be my new title... "That magic stuff was amazing, Kaito!"

The woman nods excitedly. "It was super amazing! I want to own the parrot."

"Kaito, this is Masumi-keiji," Aoko introduces. Ah, she told me about her. She's very sporadic with her investigations, kicking stuff down and challenging suspects to fight her. Apparently after she's solved a crime she yells, "case closed now let's get a beer".

"So, Kaito-kun, when will I get the parrot?" She asks, leaning close to me. I guess we're also on a first name basis. Very chummy policemen...

"My assistant just took him home…" I say, taking a step back.

Masumi frowns. "That's too bad. I wanted to have a pet like Saguru." Hakuba rolls his eyes at this. I remember Hakuba telling me about the jokes people said about his pet hawk Watson. "Aoko-chan, make sure to get it for me." She winks at Aoko.

"Roger that." Aoko salutes.

"Did you see someone by the fence a few minutes ago?" I ask Hakuba. He was the closest one to the fence, maybe he saw him.

"No, why?" He raises an eyebrow.

"Ooh, is this another magic trick?" Masumi asks excitedly. "Heiji-kun, wouldn't it be fun if Kaito-kun could make murders disappear?"

Hattori laughs. "We would be out of a job." I'm confused on how they're so casual about their jobs...I guess when you've been on one murder case, you've been on all of them?

"It's not a trick-I really did see someone." I look back at the fence. "He was right there. Aoko, did you see him?"

She shakes her head. "Maybe you were seeing things? The only person I saw was Jii when he pulled up."

Hakuba pats my shoulder. "It's probably nothing, Kaito."

I guess so. It's still odd.

Masumi looks closely at my face. "Speaking of funny things, it's crazy how close you resemble him without your costume." She smiles sweetly. "If I didn't know any better I would think you were Shinichi."

"It is weird," Hakuba agrees.

Hattori is silent.

"The man I saw looked similar to me," I say. "But he had a weird cowlick-did Shinichi-keiji have one?"

"_Oi,_" Hattori grabs my collar and pulls me toward him. "Stop fucking around. You said you were done playing your little show, so be quiet. Shinichi has nothing to do with you."

"Heiji!" Masumi glares at him. Her voice is stern, and the sudden change is startling. Hakuba sighs.

Hattori lets me go and Aoko latches on to my arm. She awkwardly excuses us and leads me inside. I hear a slapping noise and I look back to see Hattori rubbing the back of his head and Masumi scolding him. So she is his senior. From the porch there's the kitchen and there's tons of food on the table. In the center there's a small cake with eight candles on them.

Aoko lets go of me for a moment and lets out a breath. She's not good with any kind of conflict.

"I'm sorry. I already messed up everything," I say.

"It's fine," she whispers. "Hattori-keiji is very protective of Shinichi-keiji and his family. He was the main one that didn't want you to come, but with me being his junior he allowed it." She evens her breathing and puts on another smile.

I cover her face with my hand. "You're getting better at smiling when you don't want to."

Aoko chuckles, "I learned from the best." She grabs my hand and leads me to the living room. Kudo-san is sitting on one of the couches with two women-her friends probably. Kudo-san sees me and smiles.

"Ah, Kuroba-san, thank you again. I really enjoyed it," she says, gesturing for us to sit on the couch across from us.

"Yeah, it was spectacular!" The woman to her right says. She fixes her ponytail. "I'm still trying to figure out how you got my card in my shoe."

"This is Kazuha-san. She's in traffic,"Aoko tells me. "She's dating Hattori-keiji." She makes sure not to make her voice tremble when she says his name. Unlike me, Aoko's poker face breaks very easily. That's probably a good thing; one of us needs to be more human.

"Haha, I'm not sure if you should say that as a good or bad thing," Kazuha laughs. She does seem more level headed between the two of them. "Hey, I've been wondering this since you did the shoe thing with me-can you make cards appear in other places, like bras?" she asks. "That'll be a hit at bachelorette parties."

I choose to laugh at the question instead of actually answering.

"If only I knew about you before I got married. I definitely would have hired you instead of the boring guy Makoto hired." The woman on Kudo-san's left nods to herself. Speaking of her marriage, that's a gaudy ring. It might as well be a light bulb fixture. Aoko doesn't give me a name, so this must not be a policeman.

"This is my good friend Kyogoku Sonoko," Kudo-san introduces. "You can always invite Kuroba-san to the baby shower, Sonoko," Kudo-san replies.

Sonoko-san laughs, although it sounds a bit false. "I'll see what Makoto says."

"Children are nice," Aoko says, leaning against me. I get the hint Aoko. I still don't think I'm ready for kids. I don't know if I'll be a good dad.

"You three are ahead of me-I'm still wondering when I'll get married..." Kazuha-san mutters.

"Hattori-keiji is the worst at romance," Aoko fails to whisper this in my ear. "I heard a story about him getting fake flowers because they were cheaper."

"I believe it," I say.

"It's true." Kazuha-san scoffs. "He said its symbolism for our relationship: it'll never die."

"That's actually really clever," I snicker. "Expect that on our next anniversary, Aoko."

She laughs. "Let's have a bonfire so we can say there's heat in our relationship."

"Ugh when you guys do it, it's adorable." Kazuha-san lets out a sigh.

Sonoko nods, looking at us closely. "You two seem to be in the cute stage still. You must've gotten married recently."

Aoko shakes her head, blushing lightly. "We married after high school..."

Sonoko and Kazuha look very surprised, just like everyone else who finds out. Kudo-san, who has been neutral for most of the conversation, giggles. This smile is genuine.

"That's very sweet," she replies, rubbing her wedding band. "Shinichi and I got married very early also. Sometimes you find the right person right away. I hope you two have no troubles."

The conversation dies down. Kazuha and Sonoko glance at Kudo-san worriedly. Aoko begins another conversation.

"Conan-kun is very well behaved, Ran-san. He's the most polite kid I've ever seen."

Sonoko rolls her eyes. "That's because you guys are here. He's a brat." I see she's not ready for kids either… "He makes fun of my headbands."

"You make fun of his glasses, Sonoko." Kazuha laughs. "You're supposed to be the bigger person."

Kudo-san, not really paying attention to the conversation, stares at me. "How strange…" she mumbles.

"What's strange?" Sonoko asks, looking at me. Kazuha glances in my direction. Their faces slowly change to one of recognition. "Hey…"

Aoko tenses.

Kudo-san smiles. "I was thinking that it was strange of Conan not to thank you for coming by." She stands up. "He's upstairs if you want to speak to him before you leave. I'm sure you have other places to be." I give Aoko a pat on the knee before following Kudo-san upstairs to Conan's bedroom. She knocks on the door and calls for him.

Conan slowly opens the door. He sees me and stares at me bewildered.

"Conan-kun, this is the magician. We need to thank him for stopping by," Kudo-san tells him.

He nods, frowning in disappointment. "Thank you," he says and promptly closes the door.

Kudo-san sighs. "I'm sorry. He's a very nice boy, really. Let me get your payment." She leads me to her bedroom. It's right next to Conan's and things are extremely neat. The closet door is closed, and there's a suit hanging on the doorknob. I try not to stare at it too hard. Kudo-san picks up the envelope from her dresser and hands it to me. "Nakamori-kun told me the price, but I gave you extra. I know the circumstances were not ideal."

I see a picture on the dresser. It's a man holding a boy. "Excuse me for asking, but is that your husband in the picture?" I ask.

Ran looks over at the picture and nods. "You can have a closer look if you want." She picks up and hands it to me. "That was taken when Conan-kun started school." She giggles at the memory.

He does look similar to me, except for the cowlick in his hair and eye color. What frightens me the most is not our similarity but me recognizing him. This was the man I saw outside. That doesn't make any sense though. He's been dead for three months, he shouldn't be alive. And out of all the people for him to appear in front of, why me?

"It was mean of me to let Conan see you," Kudo-san says. "You have an uncanny similarity when you're not in your suit. I'm sorry for making you feel more uncomfortable."

I set down the picture. "It's fine. My mom would have done the same thing when I was his age. I understand what you two are going through-that's why my wife brought me here." I let out a breath. "My dad passed when I was his age."

She gasps. "I'm sorry to hear that. Scary how common it is, isn't it?" She reaches to touch my shoulder, but decides not to. "Thank you for coming by. Please thank Nakamori-kun also. You're both very nice people." Kudo-san's smile is genuine again, but goes away quickly.

Aoko meets me downstairs and we head back to the backyard. Hakuba is the first to see us and waves goodbye.

"Ehh? You're leaving already? I was about to head in and to talk to you guys." Masumi-keiji is back to her peppy attitude.

"We overstayed our welcome," Aoko laughs nervously. "Plus, I'll see you at work tomorrow, Masumi-keiji."

"It's not the same. You're usually with Heiji-kun and we know how possessive he is." Masumi winks at me. My shirt knows this also. "It's nice meeting you Kaito-kun! See you tomorrow, Aoko-chan."

"Be good." Hakuba gives me a pat on the back.

"Same to you," I say.

Hattori-keiji doesn't look at me. "See you tomorrow, Aoko." He clenches his teeth and grumbles "nice meeting you, magic man."

As Aoko and I walk back to the car, I hear another slapping noise and Hattori-keiji groaning. I feel like that happens a lot. Aoko decides to drive us home. I look out the window, watching the house get smaller in the rear view window.

"Did you really see someone?" She asks.

"Yeah," I answer.

"I wonder why," is all I hear before falling asleep.

...

Nakamori-keibu is busy making dinner when we come back even though it's only two in the afternoon. He cooks very slowly though so this is probably the appropriate time for him to start. Aoko stays with him to relay all that's happened and I head to our bedroom to put my suit away.

"Lousy day," I say to myself as I put the top hat in the closet.

"I wouldn't say that," a voice says.

I flinch at the noise. I don't know whose voice that is. I quickly look around and find no one. Was I just hearing things? First dead people and now voices. I'm finally going insane. I try to calm down. I put my suit on my bed and take another look around the room. What was that voice?

"This is the happiest day for me," the voice continues. I finally place what direction it's coming from: my mirror. My back is to it. I feel a shiver down my spine. I slowly turn around to see the man I saw before. "Aside from my son turning eight, you're the first person to see me." He chuckles.

The man in the mirror is Kudo Shinichi.

I feel myself sweat.

"It's been a while, huh?" He grins.

I look around for something to throw. This isn't happening. I'm not seeing dead people. I'm not crazy. I blindly reach for something and throw it at the mirror.

I hear Aoko and her dad running toward the bedroom. She gasps at the destruction. I look down to see my father's picture broken on the floor surrounded by glass. When Nakamori-keibu asks what's wrong, I couldn't bring myself to answer.

* * *

Hello everyone! This is the newly updated chapter! I hope you enjoy the story! There's a new chapter also so please read that! I have...nothing much to say XDDD Thanks for reading and reviewing! Have a good day!


	2. Who am I to be blind?

Chapter 2: Who am I to be blind?

I wake up to someone humming. The other side of the bed is empty. Aoko leaves for work at eight, and her dad is still snoring so it must be at least ten in the morning. I yawn. The humming stops.

"Good morning Kai-chan!"

I quickly sit up. "Mom? Why are you here?"

Mom's sitting on the end of the bed grinning. "Feel your forehead."

I feel a sticky note on my face and take it off.

_I called your mom because you broke our mirror and you usually don't do that. Wifey loves you. -Aoko_

Aoko you didn't have to call Mom...

"So what's this about?" Mom asks, looking at the still destroyed mirror. "You even broke your father's frame..." she gets off the bed to get the damaged photo of Dad. I wince at the cracked glass across his face.

"Aoko asked me to do a kid's party yesterday. It was weird, not because I haven't done a show in a while, but because of how off putting everything was." I look away from the broken picture frame. "Turns out the main reason I was there was to make a kid happy."

Mom looks confused. "That should make you happy. Did you break the mirror for your good deed?"

"No," I mumble, stumbling out of bed. I pass the broken mirror and walk to the bathroom. Mom follows and leans on the door frame. I hesitantly look at my reflection. No Shinichi-keiji. "I'm seeing dead people." I turn to her to see her reaction.

She lets out a snort. "Odd time for a movie reference."

I check the mirror again. He's gone. Was I just dreaming all of this up? "I'm serious. The kid's dad died recently and I saw him yesterday. He was in the mirror."

Mom doesn't say anything. What could you say to that? "I think you're inside too much. Yesterday was the first time in a while you went outside. Maybe the fresh air racked your brain." She laughs. I slump. I'm not sure why I told her anything. It's not like anyone would happily believe dead people still walk among us. Maybe she's right. Shinichi-keiji _is_ gone...

"Let's have a little day trip you and me. We gotta replace the mirror and the picture frame. Oh, there's a donut place I wanna try too." Mom clutches the picture, smiling. "You haven't hung out with your ol' lady in a while. Lots of catching up to do."

I nod and she walks toward the kitchen. I brush my teeth, wash my face, and put on some clothes. I find the pack of sticky notes Aoko used and write a quick note to Nakamori-keibu. He'll probably wake up when we're gone and I don't want him to think I ran away or anything.

_Mom came by. Shopping with her. I'm not going crazy. Love, your not crazy son-in-law._

I tiptoe into his room and stick the note on his head. When I meet Mom in the kitchen, she doesn't notice me right away. She's sitting at the dining table, looking at Dad's picture.

"Should we visit Dad today?" I ask, opening the freezer. I get a frozen waffle and put it in the toaster. "It's been a month, at least."

"It's been some time. I'd like to see your dad," she says.

"I'd like to see him too."

I freeze. No. I thought it was a dream. Why couldn't it be a dream? I see Shinichi-keiji standing over Mom looking at Dad's picture. Why is this happening?

He smiles. "You look just like him. That's the weirdest thing about kids-they resemble you."

Mom whistles to get my attention. "Kai-chan, your waffle." She points to the toaster. I take out my waffle and turn off the toaster. I tell her I'm getting my wallet and head back to my bedroom. That's a lie; its in my front pants pocket.

"Kaito you lied to your mom. Are we going to talk now?" the ghost follows. I angrily eat my breakfast. What did I do to have this curse on me? Getting the sticky note pad, I write down a simple request.

_Please die._

Shinichi reads my note, but doesn't look offended. "I already did that."

I grumble and write again.

_Dead people do not stay around and bother people. Please fully die and leave me alone. Better yet make yourself appear in front everyone who actually knows you._

"Kaito, what do you think I've been doing the past three months? I stayed around my house, hoping my wife and son would see me, but they can't." He looks at the broken mirror. "No one I know can see me, except for you."

I raise my eyebrows in confusion. Why is he insinuating that we know each other?

_I don't know you, Shinichi-keiji._

He chuckles. "I guess you don't remember me. That's okay, my memory is fuzzy at the moment. Also you can drop the title. I'm not a policeman anymore." He watches me throw away a sticky note. "Are you going to use those the whole time?"

I walk past, or rather through, him and go back to Mom. I hear him chuckle and I suppress the urge to scream.

"Ready?" She asks. I feel sad that she doesn't ask about the person behind me.

"Extremely."

...

Our first stop is the craft store for a new picture frame and some fake flowers for Dad's grave. We split up- she's getting the frame and I'm getting the flowers. I hate that I'm alone. Shinichi likes talking then.

"Your mom is funny," he says looking at the several buckets of fake roses. "Which flowers are you looking for? We should get something cool like the purple ones."

I make another grumbling sound as I write down my response.

**_I'm_**_ getting the clovers. Please stop pretending you care about my dad._

"Clovers? Oh I get it because of your last name," he says. "Kaito, you should be more sympathetic. I really do care-"

"Sympathy? You're the one that should be sympathetic! You're dead-I'm living through all these problems!" I throw the pack sticky notes at him.

"Kaito."

I flinch. I turn around see my mom frowning. Other people in the store are staring at me. Shinichi looks at the ground. He disappears. If only I could do the same thing. Mom asks me to wait in the car while she pays for our things. I have my head in my hands. Why is everything so messed up?

"I'm sorry," Shinichi mumbles.

I'm finally alone so I let out the scream I've been holding in this whole time. I curl in a ball in my seat and lean against the door.

"Please go away. I already have too many things to think about without you hanging around me," I tell him.

"I hate to say that I'm not leaving. You should think about sympathy yourself. Have you spent three months invisible to everyone you care about?" Shinichi asks. I glance at the side view mirror and see him staring at me. "Last time I checked, I was the dead one."

I let out sigh. He does have a point about that. "Why does it have to be me?"

"Maybe we were supposed to meet when I was alive," Shinichi says. "Or maybe you're the only person that can help me as I am now."

"You don't know?" I ask, uncurling myself.

"I told you my memory is fuzzy." Kudo looks out the window. "Your mom is coming back."

Mom gets in the car with a big huff, handing me the bags and strapping in. She lets out another breath before facing me.

"What's wrong Kaito? Please tell me," she pleads. "Why did you have that outburst? What's with these notes?" She pulls the sticky notes out of her purse and shows them to me. "'Please die'? Are you telling yourself this?"

"No," I murmur. "I'm telling Shinichi."

"Shinichi?"

"That's the ghost," I say.

"Do you need someone to talk to? I know you hate psychiatrists-"

"I don't want a psychiatrist, Mom. Please stop suggesting that whenever you get worried." I look out my window.

"When I see you writing and screaming to a ghost what else am I going to suggest?" she sighs. "Kaito, ever since your father passed you've changed."

"Please stop talking about Dad." I see Shinichi's reflection in the window. "Shinichi's in the car."

Mom bites her lip, shaking her head. We quietly drive on to cemetery.

…

"I'll ask for some cleaning supplies and incense. You can talk to him first," Mom says.

"You don't want to talk to him together like we always we do?" I ask. We always visit him together. Why is she picking now of all times to be different?

"I'll be there in a minute, Kaito. I feel like you need some time with him." She smiled before heading inside the small office building in the cemetery.

I lead Shinchi to my dad's grave and sit in front of it. Kuroba Toichi: one of the greatest magicians in the world, one of the greatest people in Japan, and the best father. He died from an accident when I was eight. I'm starting to forget some of the memories from that time, and it worries me.

"Ah!" Shinichi gasps. "I remember now!"

"What?"

"I can't say now. Your mom's coming back," he says. "It's shocking."

"Shocking?" I say.

"What's shocking?" Mom asks beside me.

I try to think of something. "How…how long it's been since we've visited…"

She nods, and begins cleaning the grave. "Ah Toi-chan, you've gotten dirty…" She says. "You always needed to be reminded when to stop working and bathe." She laughs to herself. "We were scolded for leaving you too much food last visit, so I'm a bit scared to bring you something. Next time, I'll bring your favorite meal."

I place the clovers on the grave. "The priest will scold you again," I say.

"It's worth it for him," she says. "Oh Toichi, you were always so troublesome, and now your son is the same way." Mom finishes cleaning and lights the incense. "Maybe it's your father you're seeing? I hope you're not thinking it's your fault."

I'm silent for a moment. I notice Shinichi walk around the cemetery deep in thought. "I did ask him to do that trick for me. If I had stayed quiet…" I stop myself when Mom touches my shoulder.

"Kaito, please. It wasn't your fault."

I don't know why but I feel like she's forcing herself to say that. Just as that thought comes to mind, another hand touches my other shoulder. Shinichi smiles down at me.

"I know it's not your fault, Kaito," he tells me.

For some reason, that was all it took for me to start sobbing. For several years I've learned to keep my sadness inside whenever I visited Dad, but the calmness of Shinichi's face reminded me of him. It was as if someone else had taken over his body. Mom holds me as I cry as the incense burns.

…

The rest of our outing was better. Well, it was quiet, but better. We were able to find another mirror to put over our dresser, and having donuts was a good way for Mom and me to distract ourselves from further Shinichi talk. We're sitting outside of the bakery eating. Mom has an éclair and I have chocolate.

"I was able to talk to Aoko-chan before she left for work today. She gushed about how cute Conan-kun was," Mom starts.

"I guess so. He's not an average kid…" Thinking back on him, I feel like he's more mature than I am now and I'm close to thirty.

"She asked when I had you, and I had to reassure her that I'm not the best person to compare mother-ages with." Mom chews her donut. "She wants to have a kid before she gets promoted."

I keep eating.

Mom sips her coffee. "I wouldn't mind grandchildren myself, but I told her you're not ready. Honestly, if you had a child right now I would be frightened. Not that you and Aoko-chan wouldn't make good parents, but I'm not sure if either of you are past your demons."

Hm. That's true. "We can have our demons as kids."

Mom ruffles my hair. "Please don't. Dealing with you is hard enough." She watches the busy street. "I remember when you were born we had the hardest time thinking of a name for you."

I don't say anything. This is my first time hearing this story.

"Toi-chan wanted you to have his name in some way. Neither of us liked the idea of using the character for thief for it though. He came up with the brilliant idea of using his other persona as inspiration."

"It still sounds like thief," I say.

Mom laughs. "It does. Maybe that's why you're seeing phantoms, Phantom Thief?"

Shinichi floats over to me. "I was named by my father as well," he tells me. "One truth."

I chuckle at this. Mom raises an eyebrow at me. "A pun," I say.

…

"Gin-chan!" Mom greets happily when we come back.

He grunts at the pet name. "Are you staying Chikage?" Once again it's the middle of the afternoon and he's making dinner.

"No, I'll be eating at home. I've been out of town for so long that I miss my bed," She says.

"I'm making tempura shrimp."

"My bed can wait."

He nods at this. "Kaito, are you good?" He looks up from the cutting board and makes sure to look me in the eye. That's a loaded question, and he knows that.

"I'm fine," I say. We stare at each other for a moment. "Nakamori-keibu," I add. I see him deflate some. Mom and I leave to my bedroom.

"Are you two fighting?" She asks me.

"He wants me to call him Dad."

"Oh," is all she says.

The broken mirror is gone. Nakamori-keibu must have thrown it away while we were out. Mom puts the new mirror on the dresser as I replace Dad's picture frame. We sit on the bed, looking at our reflections.

"How does Aoko feel about your ghost?" Mom asks.

I shrug. "We haven't talked about him." Shinichi floats down beside me and sits on the bed. "He's here now."

"What was his name? Shinichi?"

I nod. "Kudo Shinichi."

Mom looks at me in shock. "Really? I was wondering why that name sounded so familiar. He's Yukiko's son!" She laughs at this. "You probably don't remember this since you were young, but the two of you actually met one time."

"We did?" I ask.

"We did," Shinichi confirms.

"It was after one of your father's shows I think. Yukiko and her husband visited our hotel room so the two of you could be friends. It was Yukiko's idea; at the time they've been moving around to promote her movie and she was worried Shinichi was lonely. The two of you looked so cute together." She smiles. "A shame they had to leave the following morning—Shinichi was fussing about leaving you behind."

"We had to go to America since Dad had to do a book signing over there," Shinichi explains.

"Yukiko kept calling me to brag about him. 'Shin-chan won this' and 'Shin-chan won that'. The last time she called was when your father passed—" Mom abruptly cuts herself off. She bites her lip.

"Mom?"

She shakes her head. "I think I'll head home after all. Travelling is catching up to me." She quickly gets up and walks out the room. I hear her say goodbye to Nakamori-keibu.

"Oh, that's right. Mom sent her something…" I hear Shinichi mumble. I wait for him to explain what he means, but he doesn't. "I can tell you what I remembered now. Your dad asked me to help you!" He says eagerly.

"Help me? With what?"

"I don't remember that part yet, but it was something very important."

I sigh. I feel like he's messing with me. Would a ghost lie? "When did he ask you to do that?"

"When I was alive," he answers.

"He was _dead _when you were alive." I get up to leave. He's definitely messing with me. Maybe I _do_ need a psychiatrist.

"I know." He grabs my wrist. I quickly shake it away. It felt too cold. "I saw him. Please believe me. I don't remember when, but it happened."

Letting out a sigh, I sit back down.

"Kaito?" I flinch at the new voice in the room. Aoko is at the door, fiddling with her patrol hat. "Your mom texted me that you were on your back so I figured I would come by on my lunch break." She quietly walks in, looking around the room. "Is…is Shinichi-keiji here?"

Shinichi beams.

"He is," I answer. "So you believe me?"

"Well, as your wife we're supposed to support each other and if it means believing in ghosts then so be it." She sniffs and bites her lip. "I yelled at Hattori-keiji today."

I stretch out my arms for a hug. She rushes over to me, sniffing again. "Was it because of me?" I ask.

"He kept making these stupid jabs at you and the magic show. I don't remember what I said but I had to stick up for you because I know your magic makes people happy!" I feel my shirt getting wet from her tears.

"He's only saying that because of me," Shinichi says. "He's a really nice guy once you get through the terrible part." That's not reassuring at all.

"Shinichi feels guilty," I say, "And so do I. You always lose a friend when you stick up for me."

Aoko sits up, wiping her eyes. "That's fine. It's probably better that way." She picks up her hat and goes back to playing with it. "When I left, Masumi-keiji was scolding him again. I can tell he really didn't mean it. He could barely look me in the eye when I was screaming at him." She hums to herself. "Where is Shinichi-keiji now?" She asks, looking up to the mirror.

Shinichi gets off the bed and kneels down in front of Aoko, grinning. "She reminds me of Ran."

"He's in front of you, and he says you remind him of his wife," I say. "He doesn't mind you addressing him casually either."

Aoko tentatively reaches out. "Hello Shinichi. I'm Kuroba Aoko. As long as you keep Kaito good company, you can stay."

Shinichi shakes her hand. "Thank you for giving me a home." I relay to her what he said.

She smiles sweetly. "It's a shame you can't pay rent."

"More direct than Ran…" Shinichi mumbles to me.

I'll say, but that's the charm of the Nakamoris.

…

"It's very nice seeing the people that care about you Kaito," Shinichi tells me as he watches Aoko drive away. He moves away from the window and begins floating around the room.

I'm on the bed, staring at the ceiling. I feel better that someone believes me, but I'm more concerned about Mom. She remembered something, and it must've been something big for her to leave like that. I guess I'll call her tomorrow to ask about it.

"I would like to make an offer." Shinichi's voice is below me. I guess he's under the bed. "Do you mind helping me while I help you?"

"How so?" I ask.

"Well," he pops his head through the bed sheets. I try to pretend that's normal. "I would like to talk to my family and friends again if it's possible. I died so unexpectedly, there's a lot of loose ends."

That's understandable. I guess if I was in his shoes I would do the same thing. It makes me wonder about Dad…

"How do you suppose I go about it?" I ask, watching him float out of my bed.

"I'm not sure. Not everyone is as open-minded as Aoko."

True, and to be honest I'm not sure if it's healthy for her to be so supportive. Maybe she thinks it'll help me in the long run. I watch Shinichi happily float around. If he met Dad, what did he tell him? Why couldn't he tell me? More questions come to mind and I'm afraid of what their answers could be.

* * *

Yay! A new chapter FINALLY! When will the next chapter come out? I honestly don't know XDD Hopefully soon! Writing as Chikage was interesting, but I hope she comes off well. Anyway, thanks so much for reading and reviewing! Have a goooood day!


	3. They follow each other on the wind

Chapter 3: They follow each other on the wind

"Kaito, I think I felt him that time!" Aoko squeals behind me.

I look in the rear view mirror and see her holding out her hands to Shinichi. I'm driving her to work today since she's still unnerved about her argument with Hattori-keiji from the other day. She's in the back seat with Shinichi. Her goal is to give him a high five.

"That's good. We can be crazy together," I say, focusing on the road. She laughs at this, and tries again.

Shinichi gives her another high five. "You two like being in your own space don't you?" He asks. "Just like me and Ran…" I look in the mirror again to see him frowning. Hm. It must be hard being dead. I mean that's obvious, but knowing you can't be around those you love is heartbreaking. I'm surprised he still wants to hang around us.

"Kaito, there's a parking spot up ahead." I hear Aoko say. I inwardly groan. I hate parallel parking. "You want me to spot you?" Aoko asks.

"No, I think I got it." Lucky for me, the car that I'm parking in front of gave me enough space to get in. After I turn off the car, the three of us get out. I toss the keys to Aoko, since she'll be driving home. "You want me to walk you in?"

She mumbles to herself, and avoids my gaze. I believe that was a yes.

"I wouldn't mind seeing the station again," Shinichi tells me, also noticing Aoko's fretting.

I relay this to Aoko. "Plus, you moved desks since your promotion right? I haven't seen it yet."

She's excited again. "Oh that's right! They moved me closer to the higher ups! I see Hakuba all the time in his office." She leads me through the front entrance. I've been here a couple of times so the receptionist recognizes me.

"How does it smell in here?" Shinichi asks me. "Does it smell like justice?"

"Uh, it smells clean," I answer.

He nods at this. "I guess it's a policeman thing."

Aoko takes in a deep breath. "Tell Shinichi it still smells like justice."

Shinichi laughs. "You see?"

We get in the elevator and head to the second floor. When the doors open, Aoko quickly checks around the office. Her hand clasps onto mine.

"Heiji doesn't come this early anymore," Shinichi says above us. I hate that he chooses when he wants to float around or walk. I still get creeped out when he randomly starts flying around.

I relay to Aoko.

She nods at this. "I know, but I'm still so worried." We walk past several policeman, all giving me weird looks. Aoko's desk is in the back of the room in the center. Behind her is Hakuba's, Hattori-keiji's, and Masumi-keiji's offices. "Home sweet home!" She sits down. "It's a bit scary since I'm over a lot of the newbies."

"Oh, hello you two." Hakuba walks out of his office. Watson sits on his gloved hand, angling its head toward Shinichi.

"I never knew if Watson liked me or not…" Shinichi gets back on the ground. He stays close to me, watching the hawk. Never thought a ghost would be afraid of birds of all things.

"Are you alright, Aoko?" Hakuba asks. "I swear Hattori's mouth gets him more trouble than anything."

Her smile shakes. "I'm fine, Hakuba…I should be fine for today." She winks in my general direction. "You'll have to give me some Hattori-keiji tricks, Shinichi."

"That would be hard. He's a wildcard." Shinichi chuckles. "He reminds me of you Kaito." If you say so.

Hakuba's eyes widen. "What do you mean?" He turns to me. "You're still saying that you're seeing Shinichi?" He says in a low voice.

"He started following me around now," I say. Shinichi walks over to Watson cautiously. "And he's staying or…haunting our place now."

"I always wanted to pet him…" He says.

"Spirits don't exist, Kaito." Hakuba's brow furrows. "I hate to agree with Hattori, but you shouldn't say things like that."

Aoko slumps in her seat. Watson turns his head to Shinichi, cawing. Hakuba shushes his pet.

"You've known me long enough not to lie about serious things like this. I don't like having a dead person following me either," I say. "But he knows Dad and I have to help him."

Shinichi reaches out to the hawk.

He checks his watch. "Is this something to make yourself feel better about your father? If so, it's an unhealthy attempt—" He jolts when Watson screeches and flies around the room. The three of us watch as policemen duck their heads and scramble under their desks. Hakuba grabs a whistle from his pocket and blows it. Watson turns his head to his owner and flies back to him. Shinichi gives me a bashful grin.

Masumi's door opens and peeks out. "Is it mating season?" She laughs. "Oh, Kaito! You're here! Is this another magic trick? Kind of a weird time and place for one."

After calming down his pet, Hakuba answers, "Something scared Watson…" He sighs. "I'll be outside. He might calm down when he flies around for a bit."

Aoko lets out a breath when Hakuba leaves. "Good morning, Masumi-keiji," she greets.

"I'm glad you're here, Aoko! I was afraid Heiji ran you off." She walks over to give Aoko a hug. "I gave him a stern talking to."

"Thank you." Aoko doesn't sound at all relieved. "Well, I guess I should actually work now." She laughs.

"Have a good day." I wave. Shinichi does the same. I head back to the first floor. I see Hakuba leaning against my car, deep I thought.

"Watson's taking a flight around the block?" I ask when I meet up with him. Shinichi laughs.

Hakuba doesn't. "I trained Watson for high stress situations. He doesn't get scared easily unless there's lightening. Did you do something?"

"Shinichi wanted to pet him."

He lets out a sigh, rubbing his eyes. "Watson never liked him for some reason…" he mumbles.

"Ah, well that answers that," Shinichi says.

"Alright…" He sighs again. "I'll think about this whole ghost thing. Lord knows Aoko's going to try and convince me too."

"If we're crazy, you have to be crazy." I grin.

He chuckles, pulling out his whistle. "I guess you're right. But you'll have to allow one thing." One blow and Watson's call is heard nearby. "I'll get Akako to do one of those occult things to see if something's there. If it's not Shinichi, it could be some boogey man messing with you."

Shinichi laughs. "I do sleep under your bed." Don't remind me.

I inwardly groan. Akako's not my favorite person, but if she's the key to getting Hakuba on my side then so be it. "Fine. I'll make sure Aoko's dad is out of the way when she comes." One of the few things Nakamori-keibu and I agree on is our distrust with Akako. Aoko loves her. I find her creepy. She calls herself a witch, and does séances and talks to ghosts all the time. I thought she was crazy, but here I am with a ghost following me.

Watson flies a circle above Hakuba before landing on his hand. "We'll come by this weekend. Until then, try to be sane," Hakuba says as he heads back inside.

I notice Shinichi staring at the police station with an odd look on his face. When he realizes I'm staring at him, he smiles. "I forgot how much I missed this place," he says. "The hours are terrible. You're in dangerous situations all the time, and if you make one mistake, the public might hate you for it."

"Brutal," I say.

He shrugs. "It's another home for me." He looks at the building one last time. "Are we going back to your place now?"

I shake my head. "You said Hattori doesn't come in early anymore. Where does he go?" I have a strong feeling I might regret actively searching for the hot headed detective, but I promised to help Shinichi reach out to his friends and family one last time.

Shinichi walks beside me, putting his hands in his pockets. "My grave."

I _really _regret my decision.

…

The cemetery Shinichi's buried in is far away from Dad's. I'm oddly relieved. Shinichi tells me that we'll be on the train for a while, so I take this time to call Mom.

"Kai-chan! Good morning," she answers.

"Good morning. Did you rest well?" I ask.

"I tried." She sighs. "I ended up talking on the phone for most of the night."

"To who?"

She's silent.

Shinichi floats above a woman reading a novel.

"It was…Yukiko."

"You talked to Shinichi's mom?" I ask loudly. Other passengers give me miffed looks, including the novel woman. Shinichi watches me curiously.

"With all this talk about him, I couldn't help it. Plus she's an old friend of mine and we haven't talked in a while." I hear her pouring something. It must be tea. "She sends her regards of course."

"Did you tell her I performed for Conan?" I ask.

"Oh yes! She was excited to hear that. She wished she was there…" she mumbles. I know she's avoiding something now. Whether she knows it or not, Mom speaks loudly. It must be a big secret if she's talking this low. "I told her about your ghost. You'll have to forgive me for being mean to you before. I forgot about what happened all those years ago…"

"Does she remember?" Shinichi asks excitedly, popping up in front of me. I almost drop my phone from the shock.

I make sure I didn't accidentally end the call. "What happened?"

"It was the strangest thing, Kaito. I don't know if you'll believe me."

"I have a ghost trying to listen to my phone call," I mutter.

Mom chuckles. "Of course. It happened few months after your father passed. Yukiko called me saying that Shinichi was acting a bit different. He was always an interesting child, watching and reading mystery shows all the time. Apparently he started writing letters."

"Writing letters?" I ask this to both Mom and Shinichi.

He grins. "She _does_ remember."

"She found them disturbing and wanted to send Shinichi to a psychiatrist. I told her she was overreacting. Kids always write to their imaginary friends. When she told me what they were about…" she lets out a breath. "I still find it terrifying, Kaito…especially with your ghost…"

I feel a knot in my stomach. I'm afraid where this will go. Shinichi on the other hand seems excited.

"Those letters were addressed to you…but he wrote them as your father."

I feel sick. What does this all mean? I hunch over in my seat, coughing. Mom asks if I'm alright. I mumble an answer.

"It's quite shocking, isn't it? I didn't believe her when she told me."

I feel everything swirl around me. "Does…does she still have them?"

"She does. I'll be leaving soon to get them." She takes a sip of her drink. "I don't know why, but I suddenly feel relieved. Maybe it's because I blocked that memory for all these years. Anyway, I don't want to keep you. I'm sure you're doing something important."

"I'm going to a cemetery."

"Visiting Shinichi?" She takes another sip. "I feel silly saying this, but tell him I said hello."

I tell her I will and she hangs up. I lean back in my seat, groaning. All of this is crazy. Shinichi writing letters to me as Dad…what could be in them?

"Our stop is soon," Shinichi tells me. I groan again.

…

We had to take a bus after getting off the train. When we finally make it to the cemetery, a police car is already driving away. I'm actually relieved. With the news Mom gave me, I don't feel up for talking to Hattori.

"Let's visit me anyway. Don't want to waste our trip," Shinichi says, walking through the gate.

I open it, and follow him. I look around the gravesite and notice a major difference from the one where Dad's tombstone is.

"You weren't cremated?" I ask.

Shinichi shakes his head. "Ran never liked the idea. I remember she told me she didn't want to be haunted by a spirit through their ashes." Ironic. He's about to say something else, but he stops.

"Kuroba-san, I wasn't expecting to see you here." Kudo-san smiles at me. She's sitting in front of Shinichi's grave. Despite the grim atmosphere, she is still rather radiant. I wonder how the world knows to make her look pretty in any setting. "How are you this morning?"

"I'm fine, and you?" I hesitantly sit beside her. Shinichi sits on his tombstone, gazing at his wife.

"I'm alright, thank you," she says. "You just missed Heiji-kun, he was talking about you and your wife earlier. He's not good with apologies, so bear with him."

I awkwardly laugh at this. "It's fine. I am intruding in personal matters, I guess."

"As I see it, you were pushed into this matter so I don't mind. I do find it interesting though—you possibly seeing my husband." She looks at the grave. Ah, Hattori must have told her that also…

Shinichi frowns. It's terrible she can't see him.

"Alongside Heiji-kun, I visit Shinichi every morning after I drop off Conan-kun to school. Knowing that his body is here is comforting. I feel closer to him this way," She says.

Shinichi looks at the ground, sniffing.

"What brings you here?" She asks, turning to me. "I'm surprised you knew where Shinichi's resting."

I try to think of something. "Aoko found out for me," I say quickly. "I thought I should pay my respects to him, since I met you and your son."

Kudo-san pushes her hair behind her ear. "That's very kind of you Kuroba-san. I have a feeling you and Shinichi would've been good friends." The three of us laugh for different reasons.

"According to my mom I met Shinichi when we were kids. I don't remember it though," I say.

"Is that so? What a small world! Now that I think about it, I believe he mentioned you at one point." She pauses to think. "I believe your name is Toichi?"

I stiffen. "That's my father's name." I fight off the swirling feeling in my stomach. "My name is Kaito."

"Oh I'm so sorry!" She says. "I wonder why that name came first…"

"My dad was a magician—Kuroba Toichi, the first Kaitou Kid," I answer.

"Ah that makes sense! I remember him now." She smiles. "If you wish to, do you mind having some tea with me?"

I look at Shinichi. He eagerly nods at me. "If you don't mind me intruding…" I finally answer.

"Of course not!" Kudo-san laughs.

…

"Shinichi was always curious," Kudo-san tells me as she pours water into the kettle. "Even when we were kids, he was the one that leaped into action to figure out something." She chuckles. "That's what I loved most about him."

Shinichi stands beside her, watching her put the kettle on the stove and then follows her to the dining table. Kudo-san sits across from me.

"How's Conan?" I ask.

"He's fine…" She answers before letting out a sigh. "That's what I would like to say, but I know he's not. He keeps to himself now."

Shinichi also sighs. "He was very cheerful before." he says.

"Well you _are_ dead," I remind him. Kudo-san raises her eyebrows. "I mean, your husband is," I quickly add.

"In a way you're right. A piece of me is buried along with Shinichi," she says. "I haven't been able to be myself lately." She forces out a giggle. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't worry you with my personal matters. How are you and Aoko-kun?" I can tell her smile is covering up her real emotions. As someone who does this all the time, you pick up on it pretty quickly.

"We're fine."

"If you don't mind me asking, but have you two thought about having children yet?" She asks.

I jump when the kettle goes off. Ruffling my hair, I try to think of an answer. I've been avoiding the idea of kids for the longest. Aoko's been quiet about it recently, but I know that only means she's going to make a big deal about it soon. Kudo san pulls out two teacups from one of the cabinets and a box of tea. She places a tea bag in each cup and pours in the hot water. When she comes back to the dining table, I still don't have an answer to her question.

Shinichi, who's sitting next to his wife at the table, leans over the teacup. "Mint—one of her favorites," he says.

Ran giggles again. This time it's genuine. "You're scared aren't you?" She checks her teacup. "That's good—that means you're thinking about it."

"I guess…" I mumble, messing with my tea bag. Shinichi chuckles. "Was Shinichi scared?" He immediately stops.

She laughs. "Of course he was! I remember when Conan was born he was so afraid of holding him."

"Babies are so fragile! I didn't want to drop him!" Shinichi huffs, crossing his arms.

"But either way," Kudo-san takes her teabag out of her cup, "children are a handful, but that's why they're fun to have around." She takes my teabag as well and gets up again to toss them away. "Plus, it's nice having someone here. Sometimes I get kinda scared when I'm by myself." She tells me before taking a sip of her tea.

I also take a sip. Huh, I should buy some for Aoko. She would like it.

"Kuroba-san, do you believe in ghosts?" Kudo-san stares at her cup.

I warily glance over to Shinichi. He immediately perks up.

"I've been having thoughts about them recently," I answer.

"Really?" She looks up. "I wasn't sure if I should tell anyone this since it sounds a bit crazy…but I think there's a spirit here."

"Do you think she senses me right here?" Shinichi asks, leaning close to his wife. "Do you think she could hear me?"

"Sometimes I imagine someone touching my shoulder or holding me when I sleep," She continues. She looks up and is unknowingly looking at Shinichi's face. He slowly leans in. "But that's crazy isn't it?" She chuckles before taking another sip.

Shinichi stops, and sinks through the table to the floor.

"I told Conan-kun about it to see what he thought, and he told me that I was imagining things," she sighs.

"He's very mature for his age," I say.

"He's very mature when it comes to his father." Kudo-san looks at me with a small smile and tears forming in her eyes. "He wants nothing to do with him."

I hear a small sigh from beneath the table. Shinichi is hunched over, with his back to me. "This is why I'm scared of having kids…" I finally answer.

We finish our tea in silence. Kudo-san offered me a small snack, but I quickly refused. Once again, I feel like I'm wasting her time.

"Thank you for tea, Kudo-san," I say as she leads me to the door.

"Ran." She smiles. "You may call me Ran."

I gulp. I feel a bit weird calling her by her first name already. "I'm fine with Kaito," I stutter out. I'm not, but I've been in home twice now…and sharing a room with her husband.

Ran opens the door for me, and follows me out. "Please visit again, Kaito. You're good company."

I awkwardly wave, and walk down the steps to the sidewalk.

"Kaito," I hear Shinichi behind me. "Let me stay here a bit longer…" I turn around to find him staring at his house. "I want to be here for a while longer…" he restates. His shoulders tremble, and I hear a small sniffling noise.

Kudo-san sees me and waves me goodbye again.

I try to smile as I wave back; Shinichi kneels down to the ground crying.

* * *

Finally I get to update this story! It's been a while! Since this story is a bit more serious i'm gonna try and sound more serious in my author's notes haha! not much happens here since i'm setting up for interesting plot twists in the next chapter, but the big thing is we now know that Shinichi and Ghost Toichi were communicating for a while. I wonder when we'll see those letters..ooooOOOOOOoooohh ahaha the seriousness is gone so i guess i'll leave for now. Thanks for reading and reviewing! it means a lot! See you next update!


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